Hanging Off The Edge Of Tomorrow
by Archaon
Summary: [One-shot, Actionfic] Sonic and Tails fight each other in a duel nobody could have predicted. No mind-control, no blackmail, no evil selves, no malice. Just two brothers, both trying to protect what matters the most.


**Hanging Off The Edge Of Tomorrow**

 **A Sonic the Hedgehog one-shot**

 **By Archaon**

 **-v-v-v-**

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho…!"

Sonic raised an eyebrow, critically eyeing the screen while tapping his foot at hummingbird speed. "Is he going somewhere with this, or is it just fat man opera?"

Tails smiled tiredly. "Let me speed up the histrionics section," he suggested, adjusting a couple dials on the screen. He stopped when Eggman finally started talking.

"If you are listening to this, Sonic, then I have already won!" declared the mad doctor. "Your dear friend Knuckles has misplaced the Master Emerald once more!" he went on, showcasing the enormous gem behind him. "A single shot from my new SubjEGGator and the whole planet will be under my control! Forever!" Eggman brought the camera closer to his face. "And this time, I'm in a place where even your vaunted speed can't reach," he added menacingly. "So long, Sonic! Next time I see you, you'll be my faithful butler!"

Cue more demented laughter and ensuing eye rolling.

The blue blur scratched his head. "Flabio's getting loopier in his old age," he quipped, shaking his head. "How bad is it?"

They were both inside one of Tails' workshops, in front of a huge screen that took up most of the wall. Numerous projects were around, giving an air of controlled chaos.

The two-tailed genius consulted the data. "First of all, I've sent a trauma team to where Angel Island has fallen. Hopefully they'll put Knux back together just in time to help us," he said a bit boredly.

Sonic sighed. "Seriously, Knucklehead needs to build a secret vault and hide the accursed thing. How many times has it been now?"

Tails shrugged. "In his defense, we've lost the Chaos Emeralds more times." He typed a bit more, shaking his head. "My satellites have found nothing and I've even hacked G.U.N.'s systems. Either Eggman's pulling all the stops with the stealth tech, or…"

The blue blur raised a brow at the pregnant pause. "Sometimes you are just as bad with the dramatics as he is," he muttered.

The fox ignored him. "…or, he's not hiding on the planet!"

Sonic laughed. "So we'll have to chase him to space again? I happen to like gravity!"

Tails raised a finger. "Remember, gravity is an equal opportunity mistress. She doesn't play favorites." He fiddled with his systems a bit more, then frowned. "Nothing from my outer space sensors either." One of his tails scratched his chin. "Get me a Chaos Emerald," he asked, tossing him a handle-held radar. "I already have one, but something tells me it won't be enough."

The hedgehog stretched a bit. "Can do, bro. I was about to go for a run anyway," he added with a yawn. "I'll be back within the hour, sooner if I'm lucky," he added, vanishing an instant later.

Tails didn't even flinch when the sonic boom reached his ears.

 **-v-v-v-**

The cobalt speedster, true to his word, returned fifty minutes later, Red Chaos Emerald in hand. He found the industrious fox tightening the last bolts on what seemed like a giant egg, about four times his height. "Fighting fire with fire?" he asked amused.

Tails bit his lip, then laughed. "Function begets form. I needed something simple and sturdy and I already had the chassis lying around." He wiped sweat off his brow. "Now, I've calculated it will take Eggman a few more days to fire his SubjEGGator, but we're still on the clock," he added, opening the device's cockpit. He concentrated a bit and the Yellow Chaos Emerald materialized in his hand. "Give me your Emerald and we can get the ball, or rather the egg, rolling."

Sonic nodded slowly and extended his arm. Before Tails could grab the gem though, he retracted it at lightning speed. "I don't think so, lil' bro," he stated, suddenly looking very serious.

The fox seemed to sweat even more. "Sonic!" he whined. "This is no game," he added laughing, though his mirth rang hollow.

The blue blur frowned. "What is going on, Tails?"

The teen vulpine blinked, feigning ignorance. "Eggman, mind control device, Master Emerald?" he recited. "What's this about, Sonic?" he added, sounding miffed.

Sonic sighed, shaking his head. "You've improved, I'll give you that." He eyed his adoptive brother squarely. "But the last person you'll be able to fool is me. I know you, Tails. Right now you are nervous, worried, frightened. If I touched your tails, I'd probably lose a couple fingers on the blades. Also, your 'egg' is obviously a one-seater. You intend to go alone." He sighed again, noting the younger fox was openly glaring now. "So I'm asking again: What's going on?"

Tails dropped all façade of cheerfulness, his ears flat against his scalp and his teeth showing. "He's hiding in a pocket dimension he created with the Master Emerald. I was able to pick the gem's signal. It was very faint, but my only hope of navigating there."

Sonic rubbed his nose. "What about returning? Should be easy, right," he asked, guessing the answer was the opposite.

The genius fox crossed his arms and looked away. "The Master Emerald is the most powerful and distinct power source I know of. I might find a way back, without it to home on, but it's certainly not a given," he admitted.

The cobalt hedgehog shrugged. "It will be a tight fit, but that's never stopped us before," he said nonchalantly, approaching the device.

He stopped short when a razor-sharp fox tail snapped at him, stopping a millimeter from his face. "Give me that Emerald, Sonic," demanded Tails darkly.

The older Chaos adept sighed, closing his eyes. "What will happen if the Master Emerald is removed from whatever device the doc is using?" he asked idly, his eyes focused on the rigid tip right before his nose.

The rest of the fox was as stiff as his namesakes. "The gem created that place. Best case scenario, nothing. Worst case is a catastrophic annihilation cascade, resulting in the collapse of the local space-time matrix."

Sonic idly scratched an ear. "Meaning…?"

Tails rolled his eyes. "Big boom. Time stops. Space vanishes. The End. Seriously, it's an unstable pocket dimension."

His adopted brother sighed. "And you want to go there alone?" he asked levelly.

The fox growled. "If the collapse happens, there's no sense in losing two people. And if it doesn't, I should be able to return in a couple years at most."

"If you think I'm going to let you…"

Tails withdrew his tail blade and threw his hands in the air. "Then what? Let Eggman turn us all into maids?"

"You could pull off the look," joked Sonic, yelping when he had to move to dodge a plasma ball. "Touchy…"

The fox didn't put away the blaster that had appeared on one of his arms. "I'm not letting you set a toe on my Warp Simoom," he promised. "This world needs its hero alive, present and whole." He smiled morbidly. "Whereas, I'm just the tech support. Far more expandable. Far less important."

For the first time, Sonic appeared angry. "If anyone else had said that about you around me, they'd be collecting their teeth from Downunda," he snarled. "You are important to a lot of people, myself included."

They eyed each other angrily, their respective Emeralds pulsating in their hands in response to their turbulent emotions.

Tails laughed once, shaking his head. "So there's no talking you out of this." His eyed narrowed. "If I have to beat you within an inch of your life to preserve that life, then I'm ready," he declared, assuming a fighting stance.

Sonic grinned. "Right back at you, buddy. It's been some time since we last had a good scuffle," he quipped. "You want my hero job? Show me your A' game!"

 **-v-v-v-**

Sonic, smirking madly, kept jumping around like a flea on drugs, dodging the relentless salvos of buster fire coming his way.

"Nope; nice try; a bit lower; a bit to the left; he shoots! He misses! Better, but still no cookie and… the finish!"

Confident he had spotted a pattern in the fox's fire, he accelerated madly, extending his hand and going for a clothesline. Milliseconds before collision, though, his eyes went wide as his opponent failed to even flinch. The hedgehog's arm passed right through the hologram and he tried not to stumble. The real Tails chose that moment to attack, landing a spindash on the blue blurs' flank, sending both of them flying and grinding the hedgehog against an unfortunate wall. After a while, Sonic finally managed to curl to a spinball himself, pushing off the wall and throwing the fox away.

Tails landed a bit further, sliding backwards but retaining his balance. "Had fun coaching my immaterial double?" he asked grinning, then yelped as Sonic momentarily vanished, reappeared behind him and landed a swipe kick. The fox didn't even try to dodge that one, letting himself fall towards the hedgehog and using his tails to boost his body above Sonic, shearing the tip of a quill as he passed. He landed on a handstand and frantically pumped himself upwards, just in time to miss another furious spindash.

"I want my money back. That hairdo was a close shave," complained Sonic, decelerating from absurd to zilch in a moment, turning around and crossing his arms cockily.

Tails, already flying close to the high ceiling of his workshop, stuck his tongue out and beckoned once with his hand. The hedgehog raised a brow, then gasped as a warp hole appeared under his feet and a large mechanical hand materialized, flicking him upwards before he could realize what was going on. The fox capitalized on that, rushing towards the airborne speedster and spinning vertically, his tails sharpened to razor blades. Sonic used his arms to protect his face, reinforcing them with Chaos powers and receiving shallow cuts instead of severed limbs, then started spinning in midair.

"Are you having a ball yet?" asked the fox, grunting as he tried and failed to dodge a homing attack. The physics-defying move knocked him out of his spin and towards another wall, off which he rebounded at once. Sonic tried another homing attack, only for Tails to press a button on his glove cuff and deploy a shield drone. The hedgehog bounced off the ensuing forcefield, receiving a strong shock, yet landing easily.

"Sorry," teased the hedgehog. "I never quite mastered the fancy dancing thing," he added as his adopted brother also landed, pouncing at him at once.

"Too bad," snapped the fox, beginning an elaborate offensive onslaught with all six limbs. "Time to tango!" He added, attacking relentlessly and keeping the older mobian off balance.

Sonic did his best to keep up, blocking almost everything and even trying a few punches of his own, but soon realized what Tails was doing. Every time the hedgehog tried to jump away, a sharpened tail threatened to take his head off and every time he even contemplated a kick, the fox anticipated it and switched his rhythm, forcing him to rely on his arms instead of his much stronger legs.

"Where's that girly purple voodoo abomination you used to wear?" quipped the hedgehog as he weathered the assault.

"What, the Rhythm Badge?" asked the fox, never stopping. "I absorbed its powers ages ago," he declared grinning. "Don't lose your head now!"

At this point, Sonic's arms were full of stinging cuts and he decided enough was enough when an errant tail almost took his ear off. He spun in midair, letting another painful slash connect, then released a torrent of blue power that washed over Tails like a tsunami and knocked him far away. "Nothing like a gust of fresh air," he said, sighing happily as the Sonic Wind attack sent the fox head over heels.

"More like passing wind," groused the fox as he extracted himself from the remains of a dozen unfinished inventions and tried to leap back into the fray.

Sonic would have none of that, though. Accelerating rapidly, he reached his max speed for enclosed spaces and started circling around Tails. The fox glared at him, already feeling the effects of the move as his lungs started complaining about how thin the air around him had become.

"You look like you need a breather, bro," taunted the blue blur, his voice barely reaching the fox's ears.

Sonic halted as soon as Tails dropped to the floor, seemingly unconscious, but regretted it a moment later when the fox stopped playing possum, materializing a ridiculous-looking blue and yellow hammer and whacking the blue blur, sending him to smash though a giant screen and decorate another wall.

"I do," replied the vulpine amidst pants. "You nailed it!"

Sonic popped out of his hole, eying the conjured implement gingerly. "Getting lessons from Amy?"

Tails flung his mallet at him, though the blue blur dodged it easily, and another one appeared in his grasp as the first one smashed through brick and mortar as if they were rice paper and chaff. "I was the one that taught your girlfriend how to do that!"

Sonic blinked at that, made a face at the girlfriend crack, then prepared to dodge again as Tails spindashed at him, taking the mallet along. His surprised was complete when the fox performed a flawless homing attack of his own, sending him flying. He tried to twist away from the follow up, but the fox would have none of that, grabbing him by the armpits, somehow avoiding his spines, and power-flying upwards. "Thrusters are a go! Next stop: ceiling-land and beyond!" he shouted as they smashed right through the barrier at barely sub-sonic speeds, blue head leading the way. Tails kept flying upwards, only letting go when his unwilling passenger's squirming became too much, morphing his twin tails into spiked bludgeons and slam-dunking the older adept downwards after a vicious aerial twist.

"That's no way to run an airline!" yelped the blue blur as he smashed another hole through the workshop's roof and left a crater on the floor below.

 **-v-v-v-**

"You done there?" asked Tails amused as he landed lightly, not too close to the downed form.

Sonic lifted himself from the debris and burst into laughter. "If by 'done' you mean 'Am I done having the time of my life', then no, lil' bro, not even close," he replied, stretching a bit and assuming another fighting stance. "I have to confess I didn't expect so much excitement. You've been letting me do most of the fighting these last years. You've been holding out on me."

The fox shrugged. "I never stopped training. It's just that I prefer to be known for my mechanical prowess instead of being another Chaos-powered heavy-hitter. With you, Knuckles and Shadow here and Silver with Blaze popping at random all the time, we've got that front covered." His Chaos Emerald started glowing and left his grasp, orbiting around him as he drew more power. "That doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good scrap every now and then, like all Chaos adepts" he added, now grinning, tails waving behind him merrily. "If I can save you from death or dimensional exile in the process, so much the better."

Sonic matched his expression as his own mystic gem took to the air as well. "You can talk the talk, blender-butt, I give you that, but can you juice the juice?"

"Try it, spike-brain!"

Both curled into spinballs and collided in the middle of the room, suspended by pure Chaos power as they spun against each other like twin cogs, producing an ear-splitting, screeching sound. They bounced off one another after a while, but did not relent, performing simultaneous homing attacks again and again, showering the workshop with sparks.

The stalemate broke when Sonic passed through another hologram and was once more blindsided by the younger fox. Tails landed a spinning air kick on the hedgehog's side, right from Rouge's playbook, knocking him out of his spin and sending him towards the floor. Sonic prepared to land and counter, but just before he could reach the ground, another giant hand appeared, propelling him upwards. The flying fox did not relent, hitting the blue blur again and again as more of his Magic Hands emerged from every available surface.

Finally, Sonic decided he had had enough of the pinball treatment. He managed to curl to a ball again and decimated the next mechanical hand with an aerial Sonic Wind, taking a good chunk of a wall with it. Tails tried to intercept him again, but the blue blur practically waltzed in midair, grabbing the younger fox in a frontal bearhug, very careful to avoid his tails, and started spinning rapidly. Caught off guard, Tails couldn't curl as well, taking the full effect of the centrifugal force and the resulting nausea. The hedgehog let go after a while, sending Tails crashing to what remained of the floor, and released a flood of blue energy that exploded where the fox had landed.

The dust cleared away to reveal a flickering forcefield that had barely managed to protect Tails. An instant later, his shield drone sputtered and short-circuited, falling down lifelessly. "T-432, you'll be remembered," muttered the kit solemnly.

"Need a moment of silence for that brave soul?" teased Sonic, landing and rubbing some of his newly acquired bruises.

Tails cocked a brow. "Silence? Who are you and what have you done to my bro?"

Sonic shrugged, approaching one of the decimated walls and grabbing a steel beam that seemed fairly intact, ripping it off the foundation and giving a few experimental swings. "No magical blade, but I guess it will do in a pinch," he muttered as his blue aura encircled his new implement.

The fox blinked. "Since when can you use…" He brought both glowing tails in front of him just in time to block a furious succession of slashes. "…a sword?"

Sonic jumped back, looking a bit sheepish. "That's a long story. It involved alternate dimensions, a cute sorceress and a talking cow-poker."

"That makes perfect sense," muttered the fox sarcastically, this time conjuring a giant wrench to block the next hits and retaliating with his tails.

The blue hedgehog leaped back and out of range of the questing razors, jumping back in, only to be blocked again. He tried an aerial spin-slash, but Tails moved out of the way, also dodging the ensuing shockwave that decimated a support pillar behind him. "As I said, long story. But, man, I wish I had you along in Camelot. Your blacksmith double was useful, but here you are, matching me blade for blade without mystical tutoring."

Tails huffed at that, using his namesakes like whip-swords and keeping Sonic's much more rigid weapon at bay. "Now you're just talking out of your butt," he complained.

The blue blur managed to weave a few kicks in between slashes, keeping the clash even. "And you're swordfighting out of your butt," he riposted, as he was forced to enter an intricate break-dancing sequence to flow around Tails' onslaught. Still, a contemplative smirk reached his face, despite the intensity of the duel. "I think I've got it!"

The fox narrowed his eyes at that, but despite the warning, he wasn't ready for what followed. Sonic completely changed his sword style, suddenly focusing on reckless high strikes and jabs and using prodigious footwork to defend his inevitable lower openings. Thinking how Caliburn would have chewed him out, had he seen the unorthodox maneuver, he used his impromptu blade as a bat, suddenly aiming low. Because of their point of origin, the kit's tails couldn't return to place fast enough. Tails only partially blocked the strike, his wrench shattering in his hand, and he was flung in the air. His first instinct was to fly upwards, but knowing how Sonic usually operated, he curled to a tight spinning ball instead, focusing all his Chaos powers on defending.

The speedster did not disappoint. Leaping off the ground, he passed by the airborne kit faster than most people could blink, delivering a dozen slashes in the process, bounced off the opposite wall, attacked again, reached what remained of the ceiling, run upside-down on it and repeated, until the unfortunate fox was forced through a large processing unit and then the floor, a nearby wall collapsing on him.

Sonic landed easily, discarding the steel beam that was actually half-molten at that point, and regarded the new pile carefully.

"You done there?"

 **-v-v-v-**

The blue blur was actually starting to worry when the collapsed masonry exploded outwards, twin tails spinning fast and hard enough to fling the pieces away. Tails managed to stand, favoring his midsection, Emerald tightly gripped in his hand. A half-pained, half-amused grimace was plastered on his face and he kept one of his eyes shut.

"Now I'm jealous. You went on a sword&sorcery adventure and didn't even invite me!" he complained, wiping a trickle of blood off his muzzle. "If I knew you were so handy with a blade, I'd have made you a high-tech variant."

Sonic laughed a bit awkwardly. "As you implied, the story attached is a bit improbable," he quipped. "Maybe when I'm back from smashing Egghead's newest toy you can…" He was interrupted when he had to avoid another plasma ball and he glared at the fox.

"Not done yet," replied Tails, dismissing his cannon and straitening a bit, though he was still visibly in pain.

The blue hedgehog sighed. "Come now, bro. That looks like a couple busted ribs. Even with your regeneration…"

"I've fought with worse," replied the kit, as he passed his Emerald over his more serious wounds. It didn't completely restore him, but the pain was dulled away and he smiled challengingly. "I have always been better at healing myself than you are."

Sonic shook his head disapprovingly. "Still, it will slow you down," he reminded him. He grabbed his own Emerald, its crimson light bathing their surroundings. "I've enjoyed this fight, shrimp, but all good things must end."

Before the other adept could comment on that, Sonic dashed at him. "Chaos…" he shouted and Tails' eyes went wide. "…Control!"

All colors around the blue hedgehog inverted as time stopped. He approached the frozen fox, shaking his head. "I guess it's like cheating, but I don't really want to hurt you anymore, no matter how much fun we've had."

He reached for the second Emerald, but just before he could touch it, Tails moved, twin super-charged blades attacking without warning.

Blood fell on the floor as Sonic stumbled backwards, his Chaos Stasis shattering around them. There was a ghastly slash starting from the side of his pelvis and extending all the way to his opposite shoulder and he had to literally hold his belly to keep his innards in. "How?"

Tails smiled a bit sadly, staring at his own Emerald. "Remember how I had trouble using the seven Emeralds to reach my super form? Rings were fine and I could draw power from the individual gems, but when I tried to transform, I couldn't." he shook his head, eyeing his adopted brother squarely. "We had to super-charge them with the Master Emerald for me to ascend and it was still not that impressive. The truth is, my body was too young back then to contain the power. Same thing with Chaos Control," he explained, indicating the gems. "I'm older now. Once I passed the age barrier, it was easy to learn."

Sonic chuckled, trying his own hand at healing and succeeding in clotting the large wound. "I can't believe I underestimated you like that," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry bro, that was insulting."

The fox shrugged. "No big deal. The hardest part was staying completely still, to be honest." He glared at the blue blur. "Stop shouting 'Chaos Control', though. It's a horrible habit you copied from Shadow and the only reason I've beaten you!" He would have said more, but he yelped instead, barely dodging a blue wave of Chaos power.

Sonic uncurled from his spin and winked, shaking his finger. "Don't count your Emeralds before they glow! I'm just getting started. It's your life on the balance, after all," he quipped, trying to sound nonchalant, though he was sweating heavily.

Tails frowned. "I tried to avoid any vital organs, but you'll still bleed to death if you don't slow down," he cautioned, looking very worried.

The blue hedgehog laughed in his face. "Slow down? You must have me confused for someone with no people to protect!"

The fox shook his head. "Sonic…!" he whined.

The hedgehog rubbed his ear unconcerned. "You just did more damage that Knuckles ever has. I'd say you're at about Blaze's level of hurt, though less burny and more slashy," he joked. "Still, you're right. I won't last too long like this, so I'll put everything I have in one last attack!" he declared proudly, jumping to the far end of what remained of the workshop and getting ready to dash, his Emerald vanishing inside his body.

Tails gawked at the spectacle, knowing very well he had to either mirror the attack or be blown away. He leaped to the opposite side and prepared himself, also taking the Emerald inside him.

Twin Chaos auras erupted around the two combatants, one blue, one orange and they dashed at each other, meeting in the middle, their foreheads almost touching as the air between them became harder than steel. The workshop finally exploded around them, though not even a pebble came even close to touching them, the twin torrents of power repelling everything away.

"From the first day we met, I've admired your spirit, Tails," tried Sonic, his voice strained. "We were just little kids back then, but I knew at first glance we'd become like brothers!"

Tails managed a smile. "I was the first one that could keep up with you even remotely. And you were the first one I wouldn't have to worry about hurting by accident."

Sonic managed a small nod despite the crushing pressure around them. "And yet, from day one, I had the feeling you were holding back. Strange, isn't it?" He increased his power and started pushing the fox back. "Can you win, little bro? Can you finally surpass me?"

The fox gritted his teeth. "I don't want to surpass you! I don't want that spotlight." He eyed the hedgehog resolutely through the compressed air. "That's our difference. I don't mind losing a contest… if it gives me the win!"

Before Sonic could process that, the smaller fox gave a harder push, actually gaining a bit of ground, then agilely rolled out of the way, gathering all of his power to his tails and slashing as the blue blur rocketed by uncontrollably.

 **-v-v-v-**

Sonic groaned loudly, slowly extending his hand, his Emerald just out of reach. A foot stomped right on his kidney and he fell to the ground again. "Again with the organ shots!" he complained.

Tails grabbed the second Emerald and shook his head. "I'd be more worried about my legs if I were you," he replied neutrally, holding both gems close to his brother's latest injuries.

The blue hedgehog frowned, turning his head and looking at the bloody gashes that Tails was trying to clot. "Did you really have to hamstring me?" he whined.

The younger fox sighed exasperated. "It's the only way to keep you down for any amount of time. You deserve it after being so stubborn. With your powers, it will take you about 3 days to get on your feet and 5 to be good as new. Less if you ask Knuckles or Cream to heal you."

"I still think it's excessive," groused the hedgehog, sitting against the wall of his newest crater and crossing his arms.

Tails rolled his eyes and whipped out his Miles Electric. "You there Amy?"

" _Tails!_ " replied a female voice. " _Knuckles is almost ready to come help. What's going on with Eggman? And what happened to you? You look like you went ten rounds with a Hedgewolf!_ "

"You should have seen the other guy," replied the fox mischievously, Sonic snorting in the background. "Look, Amy. I'm going after Eggman myself. Sonic and I got in a fight and he was seriously injured, trying to save me."

" _What?_ " shouted the pink hedgehog shrilly. " _Sonic's injured!?_ "

Tails sighed, flinching a bit. "Nothing life-threatening, but he won't be able to run for a while. Come to my coordinates and take care of him." Amy didn't answer, since she was already dashing at them at full tilt.

"Talk about the cure being deadlier than the injury," muttered Sonic darkly.

The younger adept laughed at his apprehension. "If there's one thing I trust Amy to do, is to take care of her lovehog's boo-boos," he quipped, prompting Sonic to make a gagging face. "I'll be going now," he added more seriously. "Wish me luck."

Sonic frowned. "I'll do no such thing! You didn't beat me with luck; you sure as Chaos don't need it to kick some Eggbutt!"

"I didn't beat you!" complained the fox. "I tricked you."

The hedgehog smirked. "Same thing." He eyed his adopted brother intently. "And none of that 'two years' bullshit. I expect you back within the week, else I'll find a way to reach you and really kick your butt!"

Tails smiled amused, trying to stifle his apprehension. It was one thing to declare his intent and another to face probable death. "As I said, I have a few days before Eggman presses The Button. I'll rest somewhere else first for a while, then go after him. Perhaps in Blaze's dimension," he explained, approaching his Warp Simoom, the only thing that had remained unscathed during the battle. He plugged in the two Emeralds, nodded at Sonic resolutely, closed the cockpit and vanished in a flash.

Now alone, Sonic sighed. "I'd say go make me proud, bro, but you already have," he muttered.

 **THE END**

 **-v-v-v-**

Yes, that's all. No, I won't write more of this. Use your imagination. I freely admit this story is just a thinly veiled Sonic vs Tails battle, with a rudimentary plot tucked on. I've used elements from dozens of games and even a couple comic and OVA tidbits. Note that they're both older in this story. I'd say Tails is about 14 and Sonic about 20-21. If you think the fight was too violent, go play Sonic Battle. If you think Tails was too vicious, go play Tails Adventure.

I've written this mainly as a break from my current main Sonic story, Miles' Zero Quest. Don't forget to review and tell me what you liked and what you didn't. More one-shots might follow in the future, if they're popular.


End file.
